Advice on new build

[menders]

I'm building a new system for WoW: Burning Crusade and am on a really tight budget. I picked up a 19" 1280x1024 LCD already and here are the other components I had in mind:

Case: Antec LifeStyle SONATA II $99.99
Motherboard: ASUS M2NPV-VM $84.99
Video card: BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB $113.99 AR
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $83.99
Memory: CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 800 $144.00
Floppy drive: NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive $5.79
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250620AS 250GB $79.99
Keyboard and mouse: Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 Black USB Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included $21.99
DVD drive: NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A $29.99

Total: $664.72

My goal was to keep the system near $800 total and the LCD was $99.95 shipped. I don't play many games other than WoW so I think this will be more than enough for me needs, but I'm open to suggestions if you think I can get more bang for my buck. Thanks!

 

[quadnad]

Unless you really like that case/psu combo, may I suggest a more solid Centurion 5 @ $44 with an FSP AX400-PN @ $41. Better quality PSU and case for fewer dollars. If you're looking for even more power, the AX450-PN is $48, still under that $99 mark.

EDIT: Just to make clear, I'm not saying the SonataII is a bad case/psu combo, I just thought I'd give you another option to check out.

 

[engiNURD]

If you live near a CompUSA that's closing, they have the SonataII for $75, so you can save on shipping. If you really wanna save more money, they have the SLK1650 w/o PSU for $20 (also on sale at cusa), lol, then just get the FSP PSU that quadnad suggested. Whats the fdd for? lol... i see no need for it if you already have an old one. if you so happen to need it (dunno why u'd need it), you can pull it from ur current system. i'd save as much money i could from all other parts and beef up the cpu with the saved money.

EDIT:
The sonata is also $80AR from ZZF in case there arent any CompUSA's closing near u.
Edit again: it's also $80AR from newegg right now.

 

[menders]

Was planning on buying everything from Newegg and there isn't a CompUSA nearby really. I assumed I needed the FDD for SATA drivers for the WinXP install, but otherwise don't need it. Do I need it for an XP install since my HDD is SATA? I do like the Sonata quite a bit as I have it on my other system.

Edit: Very tempted to go for a single or dual-core 3800+ ($109.00 and $153.99 respectively) instead and I just might do that. I guess I'm just not sure whether it would be worth getting a faster CPU or a 7900GS instead of a 7600GT. My other system is a 3000+ with a 6600GT and runs WoW beautifully.

 

[[LYL]Homer]

I noticed a nice jump in WoW performance with 2gb of ram vs 1gb, but you could always upgrade later if the mobo you get has 4 ram slots.

 

[menders]

Yeah, that's another thing...DDR2 prices are a little ridiculous at the moment. I'll just have to live with 1GB.

 

[Gouken]

You're on the right track. You might want to consider this HDD

Seagate 7200.10 400GB SATAII 16mb $110 - 26 MIR = $84 AR

People are reporting to get 7200.10's in a .9 box. If that doesn't matter much to you, and don't mind doing a MIR, it's worth the try.

There's another good deal here for a Hitachi 160GB, but 8mb cache...

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4902591?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

[engiNURD]

Was planning on buying everything from Newegg and there isn't a CompUSA nearby really. I assumed I needed the FDD for SATA drivers for the WinXP install, but otherwise don't need it. Do I need it for an XP install since my HDD is SATA? I do like the Sonata quite a bit as I have it on my other system.

So order the case now, while it has free shipping... shipping is usually $16.xx. You don't really need to load the drivers during install. you can just install them once windows is installed. During install, create one partition as your boot partition, leave the rest unpartitioned. Once windows and the drivers are installed, go into disk management and create the 2nd partition and format it.

Edit: Very tempted to go for a single or dual-core 3800+ ($109.00 and $153.99 respectively) instead and I just might do that. I guess I'm just not sure whether it would be worth getting a faster CPU or a 7900GS instead of a 7600GT. My other system is a 3000+ with a 6600GT and runs WoW beautifully.

If it runs it beautifully, why build another one now? For WoW (and gaming in general), a faster CPU would help a little, but the faster vidcard will help more. If you multitask at all, I'd go for the dual core. If not, then go for the single core 3800+ instead of the 3200+.

 

[menders]

You don't really need to load the drivers during install. you can just install them once windows is installed. During install, create one partition as your boot partition, leave the rest unpartitioned. Once windows and the drivers are installed, go into disk management and create the 2nd partition and format it.

But, uh...it won't find my hard disk if I don't have the driver disk during install right?

If it runs it beautifully, why build another one now? For WoW (and gaming in general), a faster CPU would help a little, but the faster vidcard will help more. If you multitask at all, I'd go for the dual core. If not, then go for the single core 3800+ instead of the 3200+.

Because I'm replacing a really dated PC that has serious performance issues. Not replacing my 3000+...it's fine.

 

[engiNURD]

But, uh...it won't find my hard disk if I don't have the driver disk during install right?

xp has generic drivers to use for installation. since they're generic, they probably wont see the full capacity of the drive, hence my suggestion on how to format/partition/install.

if you're that worried about it, go ahead and get the fdd, lol... its only 6 bux. i'm merely pointing out that a fdd is not really needed these days unless you'll be making a raid array.

 

[menders]

Okay. Thank you for the advice.